Read All the Things: Diagon Alley

I had originally set out to make this post not simply be a re-counting of what happens in the chapter, however it sort of got away from me and so in an effort to not have it be too long, I have decided to make my next blog post tackle the more serious issues I wanted to discuss.

And so, let's see what Hagrid and Harry have been up to...

Chapter 5 – Diagon Alley

Harry wakes up the morning after finding out he is a wizard thinking it was all a dream. Bless him. This chapter is full of new things as JKR throws us into the deep end of the magical world, introducing us to the concept of wizarding money, transportation, politics, sports and much much more. I love how she doesn't justify all of this - this is just the way it is i.e. wizards exist and live among us, but lead completely different lives. It's wonderful seeing Harry take everything in.

I don't think there's a single thing I don't like about this chapter, but I'm going to nit-pick and point out something that had never occurred to me before: how did Hagrid get to the hut on the rock? He says in the chapter that he flew there. But how? As far as I know, wizards fly on broomsticks or magically make other modes of transport fly (e.g. a motorcycle or a car). But, as far as I can tell, Hagrid has none of these. So how did he get there? Did he simply make himself fly in some way? I suppose he could have used Wingardium Leviosa to make himself levitate (as we find out in a few chapters, this is a spell that witches and wizards master in their first year) but it seems far too simple...it's not really a big thing, but it is something I am questioning as I pay closer attention to the book.

Harry goes through a list of all the things he will need as a first year student at Hogwarts. We get some wonderful foreshadowing as pupils need to buy A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot, a character who will be mentioned only in the context of being the other of this and other books, before finally making an appearance (sort of) in Deathly Hallows.

Moving quickly on, we find ourselves at the entrance to Diagon Alley, namely Hagrid takes Harry to the Leaky Cauldron, a small pub located somewhere in London. I wish JKR had specified where in London she imagines it to be - I know I'm not the only one who would have gone to find it!

In the Leaky Cauldron Harry realizes for the first time just how famous he really is. This is another thing I would like to focus on. Everyone knows who he is. I understand that he is famous for what he has done, but how do people just recognize him? Tom, the barman, sees him from across a dark pub and immediately knows who he is. How? It's not like he's had his picture in the Daily Prophet every week since the fall of Voldemort. Harry has been hidden away in the Muggle world for the last decade and yet people readily know who he is the first time they meet him. Is it simply because he looks so much like his father, James? Even if this is the case, surely not everyone knew James Potter so how would they immediately recognize his son? If it's because of the scar on his forehead, then fine, this I can accept - it is a pretty unique physical characteristic. But his scar isn't always visible...

Anyway, Harry is introduced to a few people (Dedalus Diggle makes an appearance, the wizard responsible for the shooting stars over Kent back in chapter 1) - most notable being Professor Quirrel, the Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher. As Nikita pointed out on the Facebook group, he isn't wearing his turban yet so Voldemort isn't physically a part of him, but as we find out later on in the book, he is already very much in cahoots with Voldemort at this point.

Diagon Alley is so so great, I really love it. We visit Gringotts, the wizarding bank - sidenote: there is a poem on the door warning thieves from trying to steal anything. I remember reading this the first time and thinking it was really clever. Reading it now I find it, to be honest, quite childish and unnecessary. However, in Gringotts we have some more foreshadowing as we are introduced to Griphook, one of the goblins working in the bank.

Welcome...to Diagon Alley (picture taken at the Harry Potter Studios)

And then, finally, Harry meets a fellow Hogwarts student in the form of arrogant Draco Malfoy, who will not shut up. Ugh, I'd forgotten how annoying Draco could be: bla bla bla I will bully my father into buying me a racing broom bla bla bla I hope I'm in Slytherin cos the other houses are lame bla bla bla Hagrid is a savage bla bla bla Muggleborns should not be allowed at Hogwarts. Oh Draco, you are so misguided (more about Draco in my next blog post).

Harry buying his wand is actually the scene in this chapter that really got me thinking about an aspect of the books I hadn't really considered before: religion. However, as I mentioned in my introduction to this post, I will discuss this in more detail in my next blog post - this one is already quite long!

Wands! (picture taken at the Harry Potter Studios)

Ollivander gives some information about wand cores and makes Harry try what feels like a gazillion wands until he finally finds the right one. I really like how it's described in the book, the fact that he 'feels a sudden warmth in his fingers' when he finally takes the holly and phoenix feather wand and then waves the wand and 'a shot of red and gold sparks shot from the end like fireworks.' The way they portrayed this in the movie is really annoying - I understand that they needed some visual effect way of showing the connection, but it really grates on me.

And, one final bit of foreshadowing - Ollivander tells Harry that his and Voldemort's wands contain phoenix tail feathers from the same phoenix! I think we all know just how important this will be throughout the series.

So, to wrap things up, let's see what new things were introduced this chapter (this list is by no means exhaustive, as there are simply too many new characters and magical objects):